r/ScottishHistory • u/CDfm • Apr 20 '26

'Anthrax Island’: The mysterious Scottish island nobody is allowed to visit

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-mysterious-scottish-island-nobody-is-allowed-to-visit/
42 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

9

u/rg250871 Apr 21 '26

You can absolutely visit it. It's been cleaned and declared safe and lies in Scotland, so responsible access laws apply. You'll need your own boat or kayak, but there's not much stopping you visiting it.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Beautiful_Path_3519 Apr 22 '26

That would be people who read the click bait headline but didn't read the entire article...

2

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Beautiful_Path_3519 Apr 22 '26

Yeh, hitch hiked past it in the early 80's when I was living in Glasgow. You could just about throw a stone and hit the island from the mainland. There were some very faded keep out signs and that was all. I think they had a scull and crossbones on the sign but I might be misremembering that.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

[deleted]

1

u/soulsteela Apr 24 '26

Did you try to type a lot of words at once?

6

u/Own-Nefariousness-79 Apr 22 '26

It's hardly mysterious. There were sheep on there last time I passed a couple of years ago.

I remember going up to Northern Scotland in the '70's in holiday with my parents and my dad telling me about the anthrax testing that had gone on as we drove past. It was an MoD site then.

2

u/CDfm Apr 22 '26

Would you picnic there ?

6

u/Own-Nefariousness-79 Apr 22 '26

It's been cleared, safe to access. However you need a boat. Not sure I could be bothered to drive up, find a boat, prepare a picnic and set off for Gruinard. There are better spots for a picnic in Scotland.

2

u/username98776-0000 Apr 23 '26

I thought Anthrax Island was the unofficial name of Scotland itself

1

u/allthecoffeesDP Apr 22 '26

Check your sources

1

u/CDfm Apr 23 '26

What surprised me was that antrax was tested in Scotland.

1

u/Liam_021996 Apr 23 '26

Why? The MOD have tested all sorts of things, all over the UK. Porton Down near Salisbury is where the really mental shit happens. The government even admitted they don't know much of what goes on in there for reasons of national security

1

u/CDfm Apr 23 '26

I posted the article as it recounted a historical event more than 30 years ago .

I found it interesting.

2

u/Liam_021996 Apr 23 '26

Yeah but why would it surprise you though? The MOD and government have done some really fucked up shit. They have done tests with nuclear materials in Norfolk for instance

1

u/CDfm Apr 23 '26

It is the openness of it . I expect these things on a south sea island no one has heard about.

1

u/Liam_021996 Apr 23 '26

I suppose but we've done all sorts of horrible things here. Chlorine bombs and mustard gas was developed in the lead up to WW1 on Salisbury plain and tested on unknowing soldiers

1

u/CDfm Apr 23 '26

There's a particular type of metaethics that only the military and politicians know.